This invention relates in general to dental products, and in particular to a dental matrix strip.
Dental strips, commonly referred to as matrix strips, are relatively small thin elongated plastic strips used in various dental procedures. Generally, the strips are used to isolate or shield the sides of adjacent teeth from one another. One known dental strip has a thin long rectangular shape. The strip is less than 1.0 mm in thickness and has a width of less than about 10 mm and a length of about 10 cm. The strip has a constant rectangular cross-sectional shape throughout the length of the strip. It is known to use such a strip to assist in filling an interproximal cavity, i.e., a cavity that develops on the side of a tooth. The strip is inserted between adjacent teeth and frictionally held in place therebetween. The strip helps retain the filling material within the prepared cavity during the curing process. The strip may be used to form or shape the filling material. The strip is physically placed over the filling material and manually manipulated to shape the filling material to a desired shape. The strip may also be used such that filling material used on one tooth will not inadvertently be placed on an adjacent tooth. Often times, the strips cannot simply be secured between the teeth due to the gap between the teeth. In this situation, a separate small wooden wedge is also inserted between the teeth against the strip to bridge the gap between the two teeth to secure the strip in place. Although the use of a wedge may retain the strip in place, the wedging force needed to retain the strip often causes irritation leading to undesirable bleeding of the gums of the mouth.